I swapped out my usual salt for a flaky finishing salt in a braise

I was making a beef stew and used Maldon at the start instead of kosher. It ended up way too salty, even though I used the same weight. I guess the larger flakes don't dissolve the same way during a long cook. Anyone else run into this with different salt types?

3 comments

3 Comments

harper_cooper2127d agoMost Upvoted

Honestly, I did the exact same thing with some roasted veggies last week. Treated my fancy smoked salt like it was regular table salt and nearly ruined a whole sheet pan of brussels sprouts. Felt like a real genius when my first bite was just a salty punch in the face. Guess we both learned the expensive way that not all salt is meant for cooking through.

miles7227d ago

That's the whole point of finishing salts. They're meant for texture at the end, not for dissolving into the dish during cooking. The crystal structure is completely different from kosher salt. You basically used a garnish as a main ingredient.

miam7520d ago

Yeah, that's a tough lesson to learn with the fancy salt. I made a similar mistake once and had to stretch the whole pot with extra broth and some plain boiled potatoes to soak it up. It saved the meal but was a total hassle. Now I only use my flaky salt for sprinkling on top right before serving. The texture just isn't right for cooking down.